We understand that the EEOC has opened up a formal investigation of the Honeywell wellness program, which will likely take some time to resolve. The EEOC has also announced that it will issue proposed regulations “implementing the final [HIPAA] rules concerning wellness program incentives” as early as February 2015. While the prospect of rulemaking is a welcome development, we fully expect that the Honeywell matter will end up back in Federal Court, absent a change of heart on the part of the EEOC. Frank C. Morris, Jr., August Emil Huelle, and Adam C. Solander of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. have penned a thoughtful analysis of how employers might proceed in the interim.

The HEAL Advisory, “Mainstream Wellness Program Challenged in EEOC v. Honeywell,” was written by Frank C. Morris, Jr., Member of the Firm in the Litigation and Employee Benefits practices, in the Washington, DC, office, Adam C. Solander, Associate in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the Washington, DC, office, and August Emil Huelle, Associate in the Employee Benefits and Labor and Employment practices, in the New York office.